Illuminated top



J. WIKRAPP ILLUMINATED TOP 1 Sept. 30, 1952.

Filed June 5, 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET l mLq/////////////g//Z INVENTOR .JosEPH w. KRAPP ATTORNEYE J. W KRAPP ILLUMINATED TOP 'Sept. 30, 1952 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed June 5, 1948 INVENTOR JosEPH w. KR'APP ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 30, 1952 a, 11,995., incUMrNA'rEn Top-- klcscphweltrapp, Katonahelflt Y; ApplicatiQn June}1948;,Sieria1No;3155153 This invention relates'to tops-and similarspinening" devices, and particularly to said devices:

when provided with an internal illuminating means.

There are many types of spinning tops manufactured and marketed, but so far as is known there-are none which include an' internal illuminating 'device so that the said top. will .glow and give off light during. operation. Such'an arrangement'is much to bedesired; particularly inxconnectionxwithincreasing the saleability; and attractiveness of the device;

' The'vprimary object'ofrthis inventioniis to'pro vide, a: spinnin top mechanism including-flan artrangementvfor illuminating the interior thereof; Arstill further-object is: the provision of an internally illuminated top which automatically becomes illuminated-when spungand in which the illuminating source isextinguished when; the top is stopped.

. Another object is to provide an arrangement tor-a top having'internal illumination whereby.

the said illuminating means can be prevented from being energized when the. top is being Ship? pedor when stored. y

I A still. further object of th isinvention is. the provision of an improved construction .for, tops especially adapted eior being internally illumih These and" other objects. nd a anta s wi l. become more apparent upon reference to the fol lowing j description taken, in connection with the accompanying drawings inwhich:

Figure. 1 is a vertical section taken through a" top constructed according to this invention;

Figure -2fis a plan sectionindicated by the line 2--2' on Figure "1 and looking down onthe lower half of "the top;

Figure 3 is a section indicated by the line 3-3{ on Figure l and looking up beneath the upper half of the top; i

Figure 4*is a fragmentary section indieatedby the lined-4 on Figure 3"and showing theatr rangement' of the means for attaching the upper and lower parts of the top together;

Figure- 5 is a perspective viewshowing a portion' of theicentrifugal switch means within the bodyotthe top; a

Figure 6 is a section indicated by the line 6 !i on Figure 1 andlshowing'thcxconstruction of'the winder iorthetop; V v '1 Figure 7 is a view'indicated by the line Tet-J on Figurel and showing the arrangement:.of the ratchetzportionlof the winderforsthe top;

Figure 3 is a fragmentarywiew: showing: the

. 1 Qlaim. (outa es) manner-of inserting a non-conductive member in"- to'the bodyofthe top to prevent theswitch mech-- anism therein from completing the circuitito the source of-illumination; and

Figure 9 is a perspective view" showing the form of insulating tab whichis inserted into tl-ie, body of the top as shown in Figure 8.

Referring to the drawings,- a top constructed according to this invention generally comprises separable upper and lower body parts withirr which there is a battery, a light bulb, anda-cena trifuga-lly operatedswitch means for completing the circuit betweenthe light bulb and the battery? In the drawings the bottomportion of the body part is indicated by the reference numeral I 0 and this part includes the spinning point l2 on which the body-rests when the top is in opera' tion.

The bottom part It of'the'topmbody' is prefer? ably constructed of aplastic material w-hich" is substantiallyoepaque' but which may; to advan tage, be -made of alight colorso-as to be'lig'ht reflective.

' upstanding fromthe-center part" of thebody};

part [0 is a sleeve |4=which slidably' receives a; battery l6. A spring IS isplaced in the-bottom of the sleeve 14 for urging the battery upwardly inorder to cause the center terminal thereof asy at: 20s to engage a contact plate 22 mounted 111+- side the upperbody part '24 of' the top body; 1 Theupper bodypart: 24 is'preferably "of a translucent or transparentmaterial suchiasplastie" and may comprise a series of superimposed and; nular rings having: inter-eengaging parts 1 as me dicated' atZGJ. These rings may be made=of dife ierent colors, ift desired','1and cemented together where they meet in orderato'iorm an: integral up per body part, Upstanding:fromstheitopraof the upper :body part is a stem 28 and whichlslidablyz. receives a winder member 30 within whichth'ere i5 h el nsa ed, torsion spring .32.: The winder construction, is substantially cone ventional and. is' adaptedfor-cooperation with a windin plate ttmounted on the outside .of-the top of thebodypart 2.4:. Thisplate comprises a series of apertures which receiver-the hooked over lowerend 3.6:of the spring 3 2Qand: another series of apertures whichv receive. the ratchet" pl r 3810f thee-Winder"whichis urgeddowns. wardlytoward the bottom of, the" w inder a spring, Themanner in whichtheplungrtfi cooperates the; winding plate; 3 4 :will ,1 best be e n l eur 7 The upper end of 5 the spring-r32 is. anchored" as shown iuE sur-e ficwhere nfittwillibe notedthat the upper free end of the spring is bent over and engages a recess in the winder body as at 4| and is retained in position by the annular cap member 42 which is cemented to the upper surface of the body of the winder.

In operation the winder is merely placed in the position shown in Figure 1 and then turned clockwise about the stem 28 until the spring 32 is coiled to the desired tightness. Thereafter the top is set in motion by holding the winder 30 and pressing downwardly on the stem 28 in order to dislodge the plunger 38 from its engagement with the winding plate. When the plunger 88 disengages the wound up spring 32 will exert a spinning thrust on the top body.

As mentioned before the top of this invention is adapted for being internally illuminated. Accordingly, the contact plate 22 has an extending arm or finger 44 thereon which extends down one side of the inside of the top part of the body as shown in Figures 1 and 3. This finger may terminate in a somewhat enlarged end part as at 48.

In vertical planar alignment with the finger 44 there is a swinging arm 48 which is pivotably mounted adjacent the upper end of the sleeve l4 of the bottom part In of the top body. The arm 48 is pivoted as in the depending cars 50 of a ring 52 mounted about a reduced diameter upper end portion of the sleeve l4 and retained thereon by a retaining ring 54. The ring 52 includes a spring finger 56 bearing through a slot 58 in the sleeve I 4 against the side of the battery l8. The lower or free end of the arm 48 is apertured as at 88 for receiving a light bulb 62 and the material around the aperture is preferably split as at 64 so that the separate parts of the formation at the end of the arm 48 may adapt themselves to the thread around the base of the bulb. The bulb B2 acts as a weight .on the end of the arm 48 and when the top is spinning at or above a predetermined speed the said arm will swing outwardly to the position indicated by the dashed line in Figure 1. When the arm is in this position a circuit is completed through the light bulb from the battery which causes the said bulb to be illuminated. Thus the electrical circuit is formed by the center terminal 20 of the battery 16, the contact plate 22 together with finger 44, the bulb tip terminal, the screw casing of the bulb, the arm 48, the ring 52, spring finger 56 and the outer casing of the battery 16, which latter is the second terminal of the battery. Ordinarily there would be a certain amount of dynamic unbalance of the top body, because of the one sided position of the swinging arm and the contact finger 44. However, this is accommodated by features of construction to be later described.

The light from the light bulb either passes through the upper portion of the top body, or is reflected from the inside of the bottom part II] and then through the top part of the body. The net result is to cause the upper part of the body to glow with a fairly uniform illumination.

Since the top is spinning at a relatively high rate of speed at this time, the illumination of the several bands around the top is exactly uniform so far as can be determined by the eye. It will be apparent that it is not necessary that the lower part be opaque but that it could be translucent, as well as the upper part, if desired. It also will be apparent that the several rings comprising the upper part of the body could be formed of differently colored material, if desired, in order to increase the attractiveness of the top. It is also conceivable that the upper part of the top could have mounted therein a thin translucent member, such as paper or some other article, which could be printed or otherwise colored and thereby impart certain color characteristics to the top when spinning and illuminated.

Inasmuch as it is necessary occasionally to separate the top and bottom parts of the top body in order to replace the bulb or battery therein, the said parts are preferably retained together by a pair of screws 10 on opposite sides of the top body and which pass through bosses 12 formed on the upper and lower body parts.

These bosses 12 are oifset'slightly, with respect to the center 20 and the finger 48, that is, a straight line passing through the centers of the bosses 12 will lie to one side of the center 20 and on the side of the center 28 opposite to the finger 48 as may be seen from Figure 2. This, to a partial degree, compensates for the dynamic unbalance above referred to.

Inasmuch as plastic materials are to be preferred in fabricating the top body, the presence of the contact plate22 inside the upper part of the top body and the winding plate 34 outside of the upper part of the top body is utilized for increasing the structural strength of the assembled unit by connecting the said plates by a series of rivets 14. These rivets not onlyrretain the said plates in position, but tend to distribute the stress of winding and spinning the top about the upper body part, and thereby to reduce the possibility of breakage thereof.

Since it is preferable completely to assemble the tops at the place where they are manufactured and to ship them to the place where they are sold, it is desirable to prevent the circuit from the battery through the light bulb from being completed. According to this invention this is accomplished by slotting the rim part of the body 10 as at in a position that aligns with the contact arm 48 and the finger 44, so that there can be introduced into the said slot a non-conductive member as at 82 which will positively prevent the light bulb from engaging the contact finger 44.

This member 82 may comprise a piece of stiff paper or cardboard, and the exact configuration thereof is illustrated in Figure 9.

This slot 88 is formed directly opposite to the arm 48 and, due to the mass eliminated, further compensates for the dynamic unbalancing. Thus, the removal of weight at this point and the offset relation of the bosses l2 counterbalance the arm 48.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that this invention provides for a novel spinning top construction such that not only is the manufacture of the device relatively simple, thus resulting in an inexpensive product, but which has the distinct-advantage over articles of manufacture presently on the market, in having considerable more sales appeal and attractiveness.

It will be understood that this invention is susceptible to modification in order to adapt it to different usages and conditions and, accordingly, it is desired to comprehend such modifications within this invention as may fall within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A spinning top adapted to be internally illuminated comprising an upper conical body part comprising a series of superimposed annular rings of translucent material, a, lower conical part substantially opaque but of light reflective material, a sleeve upstanding from said body part coaxially with said body, a battery supported in said sleeve, a contact plate in the inside top of the upper part of said body engaging one terminal of said battery and having an extension along the inside of one side of said upper part, a contact ring on said sleeve having a finger engaging the other terminal of the battery and including a pivot, and a contact arm swingably suspended from said pivot and having a bulb receiving aperture in the free end thereof, a light bulb removably mounted in said aperture, said arm being in planar alignment with said extension whereby said bulb in said aperture will engage said contact plate when said arm swings outwardly through centrifugal forces acting thereon, said superimposed rings being of different colors.

' JOSEPH WM. KRAPP.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the his of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 408,749 Robinson Aug. 13, 1889 1,115,863 Preyer Nov. 3, 1914 1,503,006 Rause July 29, 1924 1,639,526 Mayer Aug. 16, 1927 1,856,514 Sheneman May 3, 1932 2,148,442 Dawson Feb. 28, 1939 2,262,040 Pell Nov. 11, 1941 2,394,093 Nalle Feb. 5, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 205,487 Germany June 10, 1908 441,693 Germany Mar. 10, 1927 

